Irish firms increasingly hopeful of Brexit upside

Almost one in four Irish companies believe that Brexit will affect them positively, up from 14pc this time last year, according to a survey by the Dublin Chamber.

The survey, carried out amongst 359 companies, found that the number of firms that believe Brexit will hit them negatively fell slightly in the 12 months to 46pc from 50pc.

Despite this, when asked how the UK’s pending exit from EU has impacted on their business since the vote in June 2016, already around one in three respondents noted a negative impact, while just one in six firms said that they had been impacted positively.

Just over half of those questioned said that they had seen no change since the vote.

“The shock of the Brexit referendum result meant it was natural for companies to hunker down and for nervousness to set in. While a great deal of uncertainty remains around how the UK’s exit will pan out, it is encouraging to see an increased sense of optimism amongst firms,” Mary Rose Burke, Dublin Chamber CEO, said.
The Dublin Chamber also said that it was “greatly encouraged” to see that Irish companies are increasingly looking to new markets and that new markets are exploring opportunities in Ireland also.

“Dublin Chamber has experienced a five-fold increase in the number of delegations from China over the past 8 months. So far this year we’ve welcomed 10 delegations from China, compared to just two in the same period last year,” Ms Burke said.
In addition Ms Burke said the Chamber has organised briefings on Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Belgium, Hong Kong, Hungary and the Western Balkans over the past year.

The Chamber reiterated that the Government needs to focus on ensuring that there is an environment in which Irish firms can compete effectively with their counterparts abroad,
“This must include a progressive mid-term review of the Capital Plan and an ambitious pro-business Budget in October,” the Chamber added.